2023-HARBOUR CUP/STATracker Week-14 Highlights
(thru: 6/2/2023… 35-rounds)
The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 14th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-14 highlights…
***PILLOW, REIVIK GET 1ST I-WINS***
The 2023 eight month long STATracker season concluded its 3rd month of play last week.
JOE PILLOW and BOB REIVIK each nailed down their first individual wins (I-wins) of the season.
During Wednesday’s MGA individual playdate, Pillow scored a 2 stroke victory over the hot-handed Johnny Harrell, with a 68. Pillow accomplished it with a solid round of steady golf and only one birdie during the round. Pillow’s big week finished on a strong note on Friday when he finished his round on Friday with a 20 foot holeout. Pillow had rolled his 145 yard approach shot on the par-4 15th hole (his last hole of the day), through the green and it settled in the rough just off the back left corner of the green. His last stroke of the day and week, was a holeout for birdie. Pillow’s STATracker week was 2-8-22 for 32 total points. He’s in 4th place in the Combined standings, just one point ahead of C.A. Smith. Pillow will be looking to score his 1st major victory in this week’s upcoming MGA tournament. Pillow has now achieved one I-win in each of the last 3 seasons. His Winner’s Circle record for this season now stands at 1-3… 3-21 all-time.
In the case of BOB REIVIK, the friendly guy from “Reivik’s Ferry,” also known as the 13th hole, getting his first I-win of the season was a stellar accomplishment after he had to sit out about 6 weeks during April and early May, nursing a back injury. He roared back into contention not only with an 8 stroke victory but also in STATracker points. Reivik’s 3 round week-14 was 17-18-0. Those points helped him get back into the top 25. Reivik now has one I-win and one T-win on the season for a 1-1 Winner’s Circle record. He is 3-18 all-time.
The STAN KOONCE grinder continues to plow its path towards new personal heights for the player from Virginia. Koonce went 5-28-6 for 39 points for his week-14. Although he did not place in the Wednesday MGA playdate, he hit the trifecta with a birdie, a holeout and a sandy. He continues into another week maintaining his #1 ranking.
The #2 ranked player, PAUL CORMIER, this season’s “Sand-King” so far, added 2 more to his league-leading total of 19. His week was limited to 2 rounds (20-13-X). And speaking of sandies, both MARK CARMICHAEL (23-3-X) and C.A. SMITH (0-20-11) accomplished double sandy rounds last week.
Elsewhere… ED EDMUNDSON and KEITH SWAN added T-wins during week-14. Both players are tied with 6 points in the Winner’s Circle race, although Edmundson has the edge due to his I-win a couple of weeks ago. Edmundson’s WC record is 1-4/6 pts. Swan’s WC record is 0-6/6 pts. They are currently just 2 points behind MARK NOLAN and TIM WELCH who lead that competition with
1-6 records for 8 points.
Coming up this week… Luncheon and awards on Wednesday after tourney!!!
Bald Eagles will play on Monday, 6/5… and on Friday, 6/9
The MGA hosts its first major of the season… “The MGA” on Wednesday, June 7th. Low Gross/Net for Red & Gold
Don’t miss out playing in this prestigious event. Triple STATracker points are on the line as well, for the winners.
2023-HARBOUR CUP/STATracker Week-15 Highlights
(thru: 6/9/2023… 38-rounds)
The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 15th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-15 highlights…
***NOLAN MAKES HISTORY***
SMITH, HICE, NOLAN & CORMIER Win MGA…Koonce Hits 600
-What a week!!!... Week-15 was filled with a bunch of news that’s fit to print… and that’s what you’re about to read now. Of course the big highlight of last week was the 30th playing of The MGA here at the HPGC. History, STATracker history that is, was made when MARK NOLAN won his second consecutive major of the 2023 season, winning the Low Net/gold position with a 72. It was a 2 stroke margin of victory over runner-up BOB REIVIK. Nolan had won the 2023 ST-Masters back in April.
Nolan had but one birdie during the tournament, but played solid ball. All-in-all, Mark had a 49 point week, which pushed him up into the top 6. And, he was not done! On Friday, Nolan helped his team to another 1st place finish. He now leads the Winner’s Circle race by 2 points. So now, talk of a “Grand Slam” has begun. Not only has no player ever won 2 majors in one season, let alone, back-to-back, but there has never been a Grand Slam winner. All Nolan needs now to achieve that would be to win the month long Broad Creek OPEN (BCO) in September. All this after Nolan got a late start to his 2023 season after playing on the Florida circuit over the winter and early spring. It’s a long hot summer coming, but we’ll be eagerly awaiting the arrival of September before you know it.
-BRUCE HICE joined the small elite group of players with 2 major wins on their record when he secured his Low Net/red victory by way of a playoff against the emerging threat of runner up,
ED EDMUNDSON. Hice, the 2021 ST-Masters champ, just played steady golf to get the win. He had no birdies, holeouts or sandies during the tournament. Hice has an opportunity for a career Grand Slam himself, if he can win this September’s Broad Creek OPEN. Whenever Hice steps up to the tee, he is a serious threat to win… and this week, he won big again!!
-And… one of the most fitting victories of the tournament, was the Low Gross/red victory achieved by C.A. SMITH. Smith, one of the beloved founders of the entire situation at the HPGC, got his first STATracker major victory when he defeated Stan Koonce on their first playoff hole. Smith, long known as the MGA Tournaments Chair, retired from the post at the end of the 2021 season. What a wonderful way to cap off that long dedicated service to the club and the game, but by winning its premier event. Smith now sits in 5th place in the Combined standings and in 3rd place in the Tournaments standings. For Smith, it was his 8th I-win in his ST history, the 2nd most I-wins All-time.
-The #2 ranked PAUL CORMIER secured his first ever major win with his Low Gross/gold win.
His 5 stroke victory Wednesday was part of one of his most productive weeks in recent play… and it came at just the right time. After leading the Combined standings for several weeks, he slipped into second place when Stan Koonce caught him from behind last month. However, Cormier exploded for 81 points for the week (22-42-17) leading all players, including 42 pts. in Wednesday’s major tourney.
Cormier had a 4 birdie round on Monday and then again on Friday! He had a lone birdie in the tourney as well as a holeout. In The MGA, he had the victory as mentioned before but also got 3rd place in the Low Net/gold. The big week put him just 49 points behind Koonce, in the Combined standings. It’s a different story over in the Tournaments standings.
Cormier’s 42 point tournament total pushed him past the 100 points mark in the points-starved T-standings, as he has opened up a 48 point lead there.
-And speaking of standings, STAN KOONCE pushed past the 600 points mark last week with his 36 point week total (16-17-3). Koonce has 602 total points as of Friday. He maintains his 1st place position in the Combined standings for another week. Keep in mind that we have not reached the halfway point of the season yet. So, he remains on pace to break the season total record set by Mark Carmichael last year.
-Speaking of MARK CARMICHAEL, the 2-time major winner (BCO in ’21 and ’22) had to settle for 2nd place in the Low Gross/gold section. He had a strong week nonetheless, getting 59 total points for the week (24-17-18) which included a team win (T-win) on Monday. Carmichael has the most individual wins (I-wins) of all-time with 9 and the most wins combined, all-time, with 50.
-Other standout performances from Week-15 include KEN PLANTIN and DAVE FAHRMEIER.
In the case of Plantin, the Vermonter had 52 points on the week (18-24-10), a personal best for both the week and the 24 points a personal best in a tournament. Plantin has now moved up into the top-20 in the C-standings and into the top-10 in the T-standings. For Fahrmeier, the first year player had a strong close to the week with 37 points for the week (0-18-19) which included a tie for 2nd place in the MGA Low Gross/gold along with 3 birdies and 2 holeouts.
The official results for Wednesday’s “The MGA” tournament, are as follows…
RED- GOLD-
-Low Gross -Low Gross
1- C.A. SMITH (via playoff)/Champion 1- PAUL CORMIER/Champion
2- STAN KOONCE T2- MARK CARMICHAEL
3- JOE PILLOW DAVE FAHRMEIER
-Low Net -Low Net
1- BRUCE HICE (via playoff)/Champion 1- MARK NOLAN/Champion
2- ED EDMUNDSON 2- BOB REIVIK
T3- KEN PLANTIN 3- PAUL CORMIER
GUS VILLANOVA
Coming up this week…
Bald Eagles will play on Monday, 6/12… and on Friday, 6/16
The MGA hosts an individual format playdate on Wednesday, 6/14
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT…
The LGA here at HPGC is assisting the Journey For Hope/Cancer Center in New Bern by securing donations for their cause. They have placed a box in the pro shop for the purposes of this collection effort. The drive concludes on 6/20.
Here are some of the items that would be helpful…
Pocket packs of tissues, hand sanitizer, lip balm, new white socks for men and women, body lotion, soft blankets,
Small bottles of shampoo and conditioner, toothbrushes, toothpaste, small writing pads, deck of cards, nail clippers,
Hard candy, inspirational books, word search and puzzle books.
Thanks so much…
2023-HARBOUR CUP/STATracker Week-16 Highlights (thru: 6/16/2023… 40-rounds)
The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 16th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-16 highlights
The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 16th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-16 highlights…
**CORMIER GETS 2nd STRAIGHT I-Win**
Gets First Eagle, SMITH Maintains Hot Hand, KOONCE Stays On Top
Hot off the grille, #2 ranked PAUL CORMIER scored his second consecutive I-Win last week when he turned in a nearly flawless round in Wednesday’s MGA playdate. For the native New Hampshirean, it was a great follow-up to his major win the week before in the MGA. He poured it on scoring 2 birdies, a sandy AND… an eagle! Cormier secured the club’s 3rd eagle of the season on the par-5 2nd hole. After a massive tee shot and a high flying 2nd shot which landed about 35 feet from the flag, on the right side of the green, Cormier faced a twisty downhiller. He put a nice easy stroke on his putt, and it rolled in for the rare score. It was his first eagle here at HPGC. And speaking of which… on a side note, later that same day, Paul had another eagle at HPGC!! Only this time it was by way of a hole-in-one on #17, playing in the couples round. While that 45 point shot won’t be recognized by STATracker, congratulations are in order nonetheless!
Cormier piled up 38 points during Wednesday’s round and had crept to within 11 points of Combined standings leader, STAN KOONCE. Just a week or so ago, Koonce had opened up a 100 point lead, but Cormier kept chiseling away. However…
…in week-16, due to a scheduling conflict, only 2 rounds were played… the individual playdate on Wednesday, and the Bald Eagles round on Friday. On Friday, Koonce regained his footing. He saw Cormier getting ready to reclaim the top spot and so he lit a personal fire to carve out a respectable 21 point round. It helped that Cormier could only manage 1 point on Friday, so all things remain the same in the Combined standings.
Meanwhile, C.A. SMITH continues to have a hot hand. For the 2nd week in a row, Smith
scored plenty of points in each of his rounds. Smith’s week (21-23/44) consisted of 4 birdies, 2 holeouts and a 2nd place team finish. He led all scorers for the week. Smith has moved back up into the 4th spot in the Combined standings.
LARRY ERVIN, the amazing 88 year old, finished in the runner-up spot for the 3rd time this season in individual play. He finished just 2 strokes back of Cormier in Wednesday’s playdate. He also beat his age for the 3rd time this season. Elsewhere, TIM WELCH notched another team win to his resume, as he is now just 1 point behind Mark Nolan in the Winner’s Circle race.
….Coming up this week…
Bald Eagles will play on Monday, 6/19… and on Friday, 6/23
The MGA hosts its 7th tourney of the season, the Silver/Red/Gold team event on Wed., 6/21
2023-HARBOUR CUP/STATracker Week-17 Highlights
(thru: 6/23/2023… 43-rounds)
The 2023 race for the HARBOUR CUP, completed its 17th week of play.
Here are some notable Week-17 highlights…
**The INDIANA SHARK HAS BEEN SPOTTED**
Carmichael Scores BHO, Pillow Gets 2/T-Wins In One Week, Gillham Hits 5 Birds
Summer officially arrived last week and just when everyone thought the beaches were safe, the Indiana Shark, was seen dangerously close to the top of both the Combined and Tournaments standings. MARK CARMICHAEL, aka the “Indiana Shark,” had been flying just under the radar for most of this first half of the season. As last week began, the 2-time Harbour Cup champ and only Double-Crown winner, was struggling with his game.
After Monday’s round in week 17, Carmichael walked away from that day with no points. In talking with him, he indicated that he needed to have someone help him get corrected. On Tuesday, he got a lesson from Bryan Joyner, the club pro at HPGC. Come Wednesday, in the MGA Silver/RED/Gold Tournament, the corrections were on full display. Carmichael racked up 46 points for the round which included 4 birdies, 2 CTPs and 2 holeouts. Then in Friday’s round, he scored another 41 points with a 1st place team win, 2 more birdies, another CTP, the club’s 2nd bunker holeout (BHO) of the season and a sandy. For Carmichael, it was his second career BHO. There have only been 7 BHOs in STATracker recorded history. His 87 point total for the week (0-46-41) put him squarely in the rearview mirror of the #2 ranked player, PAUL CORMIER. Carmichael now sits just 1 point behind Cormier in the Tournaments standings and just 23 points behind second place in the Combined standings, where Cormier has resided for the past few weeks.
Elsewhere… BOB GILLHAM shot 5 birdies in Wednesday’s MGA tourney. Gillham had a very productive 56 point week for his two rounds played (26-30-x). Gillham had 2 birdies and 2 sandies in Monday’s round. For Gillham, after only 11 starts, he has moved up into the top 10 at the #9 spot. Just amazing! The Koonce Comet didn’t show any signs of slowing down last week.
STAN KOONCE continues to hurtle towards his first Harbour Cup with a mind-blowing 672 points as the 2023 season enters its last week before the halfway mark this Friday. Koonce’s week was good for another 49 points (23-26-x). He’s not making it easy for anyone to catch him.
JOE PILLOW set a new record when he contributed to 2 team wins (T-win) in the same week. Pillow got his 4th and 5th T-wins of the season. He continues to maintain his 5th place spot in the C-standings.
MARK NOLAN, the 2-time major winner this season posted a solid 31 point week (17-4-10). Nolan continues to maintain his top ten position in the C-standings, at #6. FRANK AIUTO has been coming on strong of late. The former Michiganer had 29 points for his 2 rounds last week (11-x-18). Aiuto sits inside the top 20 at the #12 position. Aiuto had a T-win, 3 birdies, a CTP and a holeout.
AND… finally… GUS VILLANOVA, aged 81, fired an impressive 79 on Friday, beating his age for the first time since STATracker has been keeping track of such things… Congrats to Gus!!
….Coming up this week…
Bald Eagles will play on Monday, 6/26… and on Friday, 6/30
The MGA hosts and individual low net playdate on Wed., 6/28